AN OPEN LETTER TO LUTFUR RAHMAN

Dear
Mr Rahman,

I
think you are a rather silly man. I have to confess that I have only
occasionally heard of you in the media (usually spoken of derisively), so I am
not able to comment on your political opinions, or your achievements as Mayor
of Tower Hamlets. The only evidence I
have on which to base my accusation is the fact that you recently chose to
place a Palestinian flag above Tower Hamlets Town Hall. And on the basis of
that alone, I believe my accusation is well founded.

In
recent weeks we have seen flags being waved, flown from cars and adorning people’s
homes – and even town halls. That is because the 2014 World Cup has just ended;
a global celebration of a sport in which national rivalries are taken onto a
football pitch. Flags and national colours are displayed to indicate support
for one particular team and the hope that this team will be triumphant against all
others.

Of
course, you have described your decision to fly the Palestinian flag by saying
its presence was a symbol of support for "ceasefire and peace" for
Gaza as the conflict with Israel continues. Well excuse me for being a little naïve,
but I thought that ‘ceasefire and peace’ require at least a bilateral
agreement. In that case, would it not be more appropriate and honest to fly the
Palestinian flag and the Israeli one side by side? Perhaps there isn’t room on
your flagpole for two flags. Perhaps you don’t have an Israeli one. Or perhaps
there are other reasons dictating your decision as to which flag should fly on
your town hall.

Do
you have a Syrian flag? A Nigerian one? How about Myanmar? Libya? There are
many places in the world where peace and ceasefire are just as necessary, where
oppressed and brutalised people deserve to have their flags flown from your
town hall. Why have you singled out the Palestinian flag? I am not for a moment
suggesting that Israel’s actions can be condoned. But details of the
humanitarian record of Hamas are, shall we say, a little sketchy too, only we
don’t see that on the news. And thousands more people have been dying in
neighbouring Syria for the last three years.

Allow
me to share with you something I experienced about twenty years ago. I was
visiting Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic; a trip arranged by the
organisers of an international Jewish education conference in which I was
participating. Several Israeli teenagers who were also part of the conference
listened to the guide explaining the history of this concentration camp with
Israeli flags draped across their shoulders. I found the image indescribably
offensive. For me it insulted the memories of those who had suffered and
perished in that dreadful place. It spoke of that same side-taking that is
demonstrated when two or more football teams take part in an international
tournament. It was arrogant, it was defiant. And it spoke only of division and
lingering hatred, a perpetuation of an ‘us and them’ mentality.

Your choice of flag, flying alone on your Town Hall, transmits the same message. If you were
genuinely interested in and committed to the ceasefire and the peace you claim
to desire, then you would either fly the flag of every country in which there are
oppressed, brutalised people or you would, as I have already suggested, fly
both the Israeli and Palestinian flag together. Of course that would not
satisfy your need to be seen to be supporting what you – and public opinion –
deem to be the ‘right’ side.

Which
brings us back to the football analogy with which I began my letter. If you
wave the flag of one country in a ‘contest’ that involves two sides, you are,
by definition, seeking the defeat of the other. In so doing in this particular
instance you not only trivialise a problematic and deeply entrenched conflict,
you also pander to the genocidal aims of the side whose flag you have chosen to
wave. You also condone the words and deeds of those who are increasingly unable
to separate the actions of the Israeli government from the religion of Judaism,
thus endangering many of the residents of Tower Hamlets and this country who
are deemed to be supporting the ‘wrong’ side.

So
please, Mr Rahman. Do us a favour. Take down the Palestinian flag. Or put an Israeli
one alongside it. Or – here’s an idea – perhaps fly a United Nations flag instead.
That might offer a more coherent, less divisive message. If you don’t do
something, and choose to leave the Palestinian flag flying alone, then I shall
be obliged to revise my opinion of you. You aren’t a silly man. You’re actually
a rather dangerous man.